JKSV includes a native Google Drive integration, so your Switch save backups can be uploaded to your own Drive account without running a separate server. The sign-in uses Google’s Limited Input flow, designed for devices like a console that have no comfortable way to complete a full browser login. This guide explains each step and what to check when authorisation fails. New users should install JKSV from the download page first and make one local backup. The wider picture is on our cloud backup hub.
How Limited Input sign-in works
Instead of typing your Google password into the console, the Limited Input flow shows you a short code and an authorisation address. You open that address on your phone or PC, sign in to Google there, and enter the code. Google then confirms the device, and JKSV receives permission to access its own backup storage in your Drive. Your password is never typed into or stored by JKSV itself, which is exactly why this slightly longer route is the safer design for a homebrew app.
Keep your phone or PC nearby before you start, and complete the code promptly, because device codes expire. If the code times out, nothing is broken: simply restart the sign-in inside JKSV and use the fresh code it shows you.
Connecting JKSV to your account
Launch JKSV with Title Override, open its settings or cloud options, and choose the Google Drive sign-in. Follow the on-screen address and code on your second device, approve the access Google describes, and return to the console. JKSV confirms the connection, and from then on backups you send to the cloud are uploaded to your Drive as ZIP files. JKSV always uses ZIP for cloud backups, even if your local backups are stored as unpacked folders for editing.
Use a Google account you control long-term for this. Backups tied to a shared, school or work account can disappear when that account is closed or its policies change, and a save archive is exactly the kind of thing you want under your own name for years.
Uploading and finding your backups
After sign-in, create a backup of a small title first and send it to Drive as a test. Then open Google Drive on your PC or phone and confirm the ZIP is really there. That two-minute check matters: a backup you have never seen on the destination is a hope, not a backup. Restores work the other way, with JKSV downloading the ZIP and unpacking it back into the title’s save data on the console.
To have uploads happen without manual steps, combine this setup with the options in auto-upload saves to the cloud. If you prefer not to use Google at all, the WebDAV setup guide shows the server-based alternative that works with several providers.
Privacy and control considerations
Google Drive integration is convenient, but it does place your saves on Google’s infrastructure under Google’s account rules. Players who prefer to keep everything on hardware they own can use WebDAV with a self-hosted server instead, as compared in our provider comparison. Neither choice is wrong; they trade convenience against control, and JKSV unusually offers both, which many save tools do not.
Remember also that a cloud copy does not replace a local one. Keep the SD card copy as well, so a lost account, an expired login or a provider outage never leaves you with zero copies of a save you care about.
When sign-in or uploads fail
If authorisation fails, check the console clock is set correctly, confirm you approved the request with the same Google account you intended, and try the flow again to get a fresh code. If uploads fail after a successful sign-in, sign out inside JKSV and repeat the Limited Input flow, which refreshes the stored permission. Also confirm your Drive is not completely full, because a full account rejects new files without a helpful message on the console side.
With Drive connected and a test restore verified, you have the simplest reliable off-console backup JKSV offers. The cloud versus local strategy guide explains how to combine it with local copies into a routine that survives SD card failures and lost accounts alike.